Chhattisgarh elections to go on as scheduled: EC

The Election Commission on Tuesday said that voting in Chhattisgarh, where a BJP MLA and four others were killed in a major Maoist attack in Dantewada district, would go on as per schedule during the first, second and third phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.

It added that polling in the affected districts is scheduled during the first and second phase on April 11 and 18, and all measures would be taken till polling is concluded in these two phases.

"Chief Electoral Officer of Chhattisgarh took an immediate video conference of collectors and other poll staff of the affected districts covering phase 1 and phase 2 in Chhattisgarh, and instructed them to take utmost precautions over the next few days till the polling is complete," an EC official said.

BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi, his driver and three personal security officers were killed when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off in Kuakonda area, a forested part of Dantewada district.

The "meticulously planned attack" was carried out when Mandavi was hurrying to an election meeting just before the close of election campaign at 5 p.m. for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls due on Thursday, the police said.

The vehicle in which the MLA was travelling bore the maximum brunt of the blast, Deputy Inspector General, Anti-Naxal (Maoist) Operations, P. Sundar Raj told reporters.

Mandavi was the lone Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bastar region which accounts for 12 Assembly seats.

This was the first major Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh since the Congress assumed power in December last year, ending 15 years of BJP rule in the state.

--IANS

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